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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25542730">The Risks And Rewards</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroughjourney/pseuds/theroughjourney'>theroughjourney</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Annie is also being Tortured, Armin is being Tortured, Eren Yeager is a Little Shit, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Historia is a badass, Jean and Marco are not having fun, Levi is literally Satan, M/M, Mikasa Ackerman &amp; Levi Are Related, Mikasa Needs to be Protected, Slavery, Torture, gay shit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:54:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25542730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroughjourney/pseuds/theroughjourney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Yeager has recently graduated from his class at the international justice organization's (known as the Survey Corps) training academy - and after almost a year of preparation, he's raring to go for an assignment. Working for the Survey Corps, he and his best childhood friend Armin Arlert are assigned to a case that involves a well known human trafficking organization, the Titans. Led by a group of mysterious figures renowned for their ruthless methods, Armin is sent ahead a few weeks before Eren as to not arouse suspicion. However, the worst happens, and Armin is compromised. Surprisingly, the agency learns he hasn't been killed...</p><p>..yet. </p><p>In a race to save his best friend (and love interest), Eren adopts a new identity and is thrust into the world of heinous crime bosses, drug kingpins, pimps, and more. As he gets closer to saving Armin, however, he realizes that Armin isn't the only person he needs to save from this hell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Erwin Smith/Mike Zacharias, Hitch Dreyse/Marlo Sand | Marlowe Freudenberg, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Moblit Berner/Hange Zoë, One-Sided Ereri Where Levi is a Complete Creep, Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover, Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer, past Erwin/Levi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Like a Lamb</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After his best friend is captured by a ruthless criminal organization, Eren prepares to take them down and save his lov-</p>
<p>-best friend by any means necessary. However, once he sees the sheer terror in the eyes of his fellow servants, Eren realizes just how deep into the pits of hell he’s plunged himself.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Callsign: Mop-Top, report your current status, over." </em></p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p> His tiny communicator firing off into his ear, the agent quickly ducked into the privacy of the nearby restroom, away from the horrid laughs and socialization of society's worst just meters away from himself. The shaggy blonde haired male groaned at the unfortunate codename he'd been stuck with since his best friend let the comment slide in the academy. He lifted a hand to his right temple, activating the button hidden behind his thick hair. "I read you, and for god's sake, please stop calling me that, over." He grumbled as he heard the tiny radio crackle to life once more. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>"No can do, Callsign: Mop-Top, and I need a formal status update on the double, over." The radio went silent again, albeit save for the tiniest chuckle on the other end. The blonde could feel the smirk radiating from the recipient's words, and he rolled his eyes as he reviewed what evidence he'd been able to gather. He cleared his throat and pressed his index finger to his temple again.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>"Ugh, fine. Status Green. No close calls or anything yet, but even this duck into the bathroom is a risk. There's too many newer servants here to single me out, but I should still be more cautious than this, over." He was lost in thought as he remembered the amiable freckled lad and his grumpy...'friend', the tall couple, one nervous and the other loud, the brunette with a severe love for food...</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>...fuck, he needed to focus. As sad as it was to admit, they weren't important to his overall mission. His one and ONLY assigned objective was to uncover and expose any and all Titan activity, regardless of how major or minor, before relaying the information back to HQ. He had a lot riding on this, and the blonde wasn't worried about Director Smith promoting him or even the accolades of his peers. No, his mind was focused on one thing... </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p> The angry, green-eyed brunette who'd been with him through thick and thin. Those hands that patted his shoulders in support when he was down. Those burning eyes of passion whenever he was riled up. His sweet mother and loving father, like the true parents the young blonde boy never had. His— </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“—I need you to respond, have you made contact with Callsign: Royal? Over.” His radio firing to life was what broke him out of his trance. He shook his head as he processed the words, waving blonde strands of hair flipping into his eyes. As he brushed them away, he prepared a response. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“Negative on that. Their identity to me is unknown as of right now, our arranged meeting face-to-face scheduled for tomorrow night, over.” He sighed and leaned against the cold, tiled wall, eyes darting nervously back and forth as a slight breeze knocked the door. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p> He was quite nervous at the prospect of meeting Royal. The agent was apparently a very sweet and charming young woman, but supposedly she had survived a brutal six months of undercover work under the Titans, in a much higher position than the lowly rank of servant. How Someone so sweet and innocent could possibly survive in a place that shook the blonde to his bones in fear was unfathomable.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“Have you uncovered any information at all in regards to activities of ‘undesirable situations?’ Over.” He flinched at the use of the extremely obvious Codename. If anybody WAS listening to his conversation, they might initially be confused, but it wouldn’t take a genius to see a servant talking into a hidden microphone in codes to figure out that something was up. As he pressed his finger to his temple again, the bathroom door was nearly busted open by a powerful knock. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“Shit, Status: Purple. Need to end this communication line, over.” He clicked his hidden microphone and radio off as he rearranged his hair to cover it, and washed his hands thoroughly. The microphone itself took the shape of a tiny mole underneath his bangs, and it was incredibly powerful, but the blonde preferred to keep it hidden, just in case. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>As he dried off his hands, he casually swung open the bathroom door. He was met with the piercing glare of a tall, shaved blonde next to an even taller, shaking brunette, and he chuckled to himself as they both walked in together. “Those two should be careful with their activities,” he chuckled to himself aloud.</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“It would seem that they aren’t the only ones.”</p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p> The harsh and accusatory tone behind him was enough to freeze the blonde’s blood. He didn’t want to believe that his recognition of the voice was correct, but as he slowly turned himself around, his worst fear was brought to life. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>“I-I b-beg your pardon?” He attempted to slip into his innocent server persona he’d practiced on the others, but the facade clearly didn’t hide anything from the steel grey eyes of the man staring back at him. His undercut was jet black, and his hair strands looked sharp enough to break skin on their own. As the blonde male took a cautious step backwards, the man shot forwards, viciously grasping at his throat. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p> As the blonde gasped for air, the man cackled in a soft, maniacal tone that left an impression on the agent that would take years to get over. As he desperately tried to breathe, to somehow (fruitlessly) explain away his conversation, a sickening grin took home across the raven haired man’s pale face. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Agent Arlert.”</em>
</p><p>—=—</p><p>A seething rage overcame the young man as he tearfully watched in horror as the video tape played the screams of his best friend. The walls around Armin were covered in rusted chains and dried bloodstains. Eren had to fight to keep himself from vomiting at the sight of Armin’s wounds. Armin was supposed to be a <em>lucky one</em>, because the brutal Titans hadn’t just killed him like they normally would. Before Agent Berner had deciphered the mysterious tape left in their headquarters just a few days prior, he was adamant that Agent Arlert was already butchered and being sent back in several packages. Eren gritted his teeth in restraint as the choppy video shifted over to face a shorter man, with a look of pure sadism in his steel grey eyes.</p><p>A wicked smirk accompanied his sharp jawline, and the red speckles across his pale skin that could only be Armin’s blood gave him the appearance of a vampire. Eren tapped his fingers against the wooden desk in anticipation as the terrifying figure slowly began to speak.</p><p>“Hello, Survey Corps. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” The monster chuckled, and the deep intimidating tone shook Eren to his bones. “We haven’t gotten a new agent of yours here since Langnar, and we sent her back headless.” Eren winced at the memory of his former comrade, Ilse. She was a young and pretty freckled woman with a fierce opposition to crime and a headstrong personality devoted to justice. Assigned the Callsign: Journalist, she’d been the last agent to attempt contact with Callsign: Royal, just a few months before Armin’s own insertion. </p><p>She’s been sent back just a few days after her initial insertion, her body bent and contorted into a bloodied cardboard box. Her head was completely detached, and a picture of it adorning a mantlepiece was kept in the Titan’s file as a reminder of what these people were capable of. The raven haired devil’s fingers ran along the blade of a sharpened knife, soaking his hand in blood. He didn’t even flinch.</p><p>“Normally I’d carve this kid up like a turkey and send him back home in bits, but I’m feeling more...playful.” His words made it clear that Armin was in a possible fate worse than death. He could hear muffled screams reverberating against the rusted walls behind the man, accompanied by a sickening gouging noise.  “He’ll join the rest of my pets in the dungeon. I can’t say any future agents will share his fate. I just happened to find this little blonde simply <em>irresistible.”</em> Eren’s bit the bottom of his lip so hard that he drew blood. How fucking <em>dare</em> this lunatic hurt anyone, let alone the person most important to him? He vowed to make the monster’s death twice as painful as Armin’s suffering. </p><p>Clearing his throat, the maniac licked the blood off his fingers with another wicked grin. “If you send anyone else after him, Erwin, I’ll be sure to string their intestines up in the banquet hall like Christmas lights.” He chuckled to himself, and let the camera waver back over to the crumpled form of Armin. He was sprawled against the dirty floor of a concrete basement, chained to the wall and floor in extremely painful positions designed so that he would never feel fully comfortable. “As for this one, I’ll keep you updated. Maybe send a Christmas card.” </p><p>Eren couldn’t hold back his anger anymore. </p><p>He flung forward in his seat, screaming at the top of his lungs. “THAT FUCKING BASTARD! I’LL KILL HIM!” He felt two sturdy arms repelling him backwards, preventing him from bashing the computer in with his fists. He attempted to wiggle free, earning a grunt from his restrainer. As all else failed, he began to quietly sob, and he felt a caring thumb sweep across his cheek. “I...I just want him back....” He sobbed into the arm of his restrainer, whom relaxed his grip and began to rub his shoulders in comfort. The owner of the thumb carefully approached Eren’s front, a worried glance adorning her spectacles. </p><p>“I know, Eren,” She cooed. “We’ll get him back, and we’ll make that son of a bitch pay for Ilse and Armin, let alone everyone else that monster’s taken from us.” His eyes still welled with tears, he glanced up to view the softened and caring face of Hange Zoë, chief of forensics and research at the Survey Corps. She was also responsible for assessing each new agent’s abilities, alongside her assistant, Moblit Berner. The two of them were known for their parental figurehead amongst the youth of their organization. Eren in particular became a favorite of Hange after he’d offered to humor her discussion of her studies one afternoon. She didn’t stop talking until one in the morning, and that was only because Moblit had to restrain her to go sleep for the next day’s experiments. </p><p>Eren was comforted by the soft gaze of his essential mentor, but he knew that her face was made of glass. She looked pristine now, but eventually, it was inevitable that she’d crack. Armin was— <em> No, Eren thought to himself, IS—</em> one of Hange’s star pupils in the research division. Eren was supposed to be inserted first ahead of Armin, but due to personal family matters, Armin had kindly volunteered to switch places with Eren. An unfathomable pit of guilt formed in the stomach of the brunette. He was responsible for those screams. It should have been him, not sweet Armin. HIM, not the most talented and intelligent boy he’d ever met. It should’ve—</p><p>The deep, but gentle shake of Vice Chief Zacharius against his shoulders was what awoke him from his trance. Leaning back into Mike’s relaxing touch, he sighed. The Corps really was like a family to every Agent, and nobody was happier to begin working there than Eren, following in his father’s footsteps. Grisha Yeager, Eren’s father, had held Mike’s current position for some time, before he retired to begin his own family. Now, his former pupil, Erwin Smith, and his partner, Mike Zacharius, ran the organization together. Up until Ilse’s casualty, they’d been approaching a one year anniversary with no agents lost. Under Mike and Erwin, the agency was more productive than ever. But they still couldn’t crack the horrendous gang known as the Titans.</p><p>Run by a mysterious family known only as the Ackermans, the Titans have been responsible for not only the deaths of some of Survey Corp’s finest agents, but also the most horrendous crimes that can be committed. Dealing in organ trafficking, human trafficking, assassinations, and indentured servitude (slavery), they have a known presence in every nation around the world. Survey has been unable to rely on any nation’s funding in tackling the Titan’s crime syndicate, and their actions have only grown bolder over the decades. The Ackermans are known for their ruthless and cunning combat abilities, with one report even stating a single member of the Ackerman clan was able to defeat three full squads of agents alone. There was no doubt in Eren’s mind that the psychopathic man in the video tape had to be an Ackerman.</p><p>“Eren, as I’m quite certain that disgusting film made abundantly clear, we need to have a serious conversation.” Chief Erwin Smith swiveled around in his chair, away from his notebook, to face Eren directly. His normally stoic and intellectual persona had cracked to show the man’s softer side, whether it was by the presence of Mike or the terrible circumstances, Eren didn’t know for sure. Erwin handed him a thick file laced with different paperworks, and a new identity to go along with it. “As you’re aware, these documents were to be vital to your undercover identity once you’d be injected into the Titans’s headquarters.” Eren narrowed his eyes at his chieftain, unnerved by the language used to describe their situation. Was? Was the Chief pulling Eren out? No fucking way. “Eren, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ca—“</p><p>—“No!” Eren’s shout shook the chandelier dangling above them, causing the other agents in the room to cover their ears in surprise. Eren took a few deep breaths, and hardened his resolve. “Chief, I know the risks. I’m already set up. It’s been a few weeks since Armin first went in already. I have to get in there after him.” His voice cracked in desperation and he noticed Hange begin to well up with tears at the mention of Armin. “I’m going back in there, and I don’t care if it kills me.” Eren’s eyes were alight with a fiery determination. Erwin opened his mouth to speak, but Eren spoke first. “I’m going after Armin, with or without Survey.” He crossed his arms over his torso.</p><p>Erwin sighed, and rearranged the papers inside of Eren’s file. “Your new identity will simply be Zeke.” He pointed towards an ID without a clear last name, and a picture of Eren was already plastered onto it. The fake was immaculate, and it appeared to be worn to give the impression that the last name was scratched off. “You’re a homeless new servant to the Ackerman clan and you were forced into the job after they threatened to kill you. It took Callsign: Royal a lot of risk to acquire this identity and get it past their clearance for new servants, so you need to make the most of this opportunity.” Callsign: Royal was supposedly in a somewhat more powerful position than servant in the Titans, but Eren wasn’t allowed to know her true identity for security reasons. He’d been given a document with arranged check-in times, and one of them included finally meeting the mysterious agent.</p><p>Eren absorbed the information eagerly, his mind quickly processing the information. Erwin shuffled a birth certificate, a document with a background check, and a packet with clouded grey color contacts in front of Eren. “Your hair will be dyed to a honey blonde color, and you’ll have to wear these grey colored contacts. If you’re caught, Eren, I hope you know that there’s nothing we can do.” Erwin gave the brunette a look of sadness, as if to say, <em>’please don’t do this.’</em> Eren shook his head and gathered the papers for study.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Chief, but I have to do this. Armin’s being tortured, God, and I know it might already be too late...” He trailed off, imagining the horrible fate that Armin may have already succumbed. “But I can’t live with myself knowing that I didn’t even try.” </p><p>Hange flung herself forward, clinging to Eren in a sobbing embrace. Mike chuckled despite himself behind Eren, and Erwin lifted his arms in salute. “Oh, Eren,” She wailed. “Please promise to be careful! Both of my babies better come back alive!” She began to sob relentlessly into Eren’s shoulder. Normally, Eren would have pushed her off by now, but knowing he had people who cared so deeply for him and Armin was what gave him the strength to continue. </p><p>He allowed Hange to sob and hug him all she wanted over the next couple days, which were filled with despairing phone calls from his mother and father, and one of solemn thanks from Armin’s grandfather. He was now stepping out of an unassuming SUV, into the docks of a cargo ship. As he approached the assigned box he was to stowaway in, Eren clenched his teeth together, remembering the times he and Armin were ecstatic to see the ocean in their childhoods.</p><p>Filled with courage and a burning passion to see the ocean with Armin again, Eren smiled to himself brightly. </p><p>“I’m coming for you, Armin. We’ll see the ocean together.”</p><p>—=—</p><p>The next three days were excruciating, and as Eren tossed and turned inside of the unhygienic shipping crate. He’d been packaged with what appeared to be some sort of plastic toys in the blade of gear that enabled you to fly. He’d remembered the commercial for them from his movie nights with Armin. Eren wasn’t certain that he’d be able to even find Armin before they killed him, but he swore upon his His heart began to ache as he was filled with dread over one very simple possibility.</p><p>Armin could already be dead. His head could be right next to Ilse’s, above that hellish fireplace and adorned to a sickening mantlepiece like some sort of sick prize.</p><p><em>‘Well,’</em> Eren thought, <em>‘if that’s the case, I’m taking as many of those bastards with me that I can.’</em> He patted his thick leather boots to ensure his switchblade was still tightly compacted inside of the wall, smirking as the rectangular shape grasped at his fingertips. Survey’s trademark “mole microphones”, invented by the brilliant Dr. Hange Zoë, were a miracle of modern technology. Eren kept his on the right side of his clavicle, just above his collarbone. They were able to pick up noises with crystal clear precision within a hundred feet of the target. The small radio piece that went with the set was to be placed inside of the outer ear, and it too took the form of a mole. To turn them on or off, you just had to press them. Somehow their organization had managed to largely keep them a secret, as Ilse’s microphone was still attached to the back of her neck when her body was sent back to the headquarters. </p><p>Eren clenched his fist in memory the memory of Ilse. They weren’t very close, but she didn’t deserve to be butchered like cattle. To be sent as a sort of gloating gesture to the people whom loved you? Nobody deserved a fate like that, in Eren’s eyes. </p><p>Except for those Ackerman bastards.</p><p>Eren’s nerves sprang to life as he felt the whole ship come to an abrupt stop. He hadn’t been able to see outside for the last 71 hours, so he had no fucking clue how close or how far they were. He could only hope that the stop meant he could climb out of this plastic hell. Thank God for the fact that he was correct.</p><p>He heard the faint scraping of fingernails against the crate’s door in a pattern that traced a triangle, which was the signal that he’d have to climb out. The agent aboard the ship went by the Callsign: Fruity, as she apparently smelled strongly of bananas. Eren couldn’t confirm this, however, because he wasn’t supposed to directly contact to her at all. He knew that her real name was Nanaba and that her partner agent was a man named Gelgar, as he’d met the duo in the agency’s dining hall several times. Eren himself went by the Callsign: Hunter, as his last name bore a striking resemblance to Jäger, a Germanic in origin word meaning ‘hunter.’ It was sort of a rite of passage that your callsign was chosen for you by the Vice Chief. Armin was pretty pissed off that Eren let slip his high school nickname, Mop-Top, in training, because Mike took a fancy to it, and he knew what that inevitably meant. </p><p>Honestly, Eren thought that ‘Mop-Top’ was a thousand times better than ‘Fruity’, or ‘Goggles’ (Hange), or ‘Whiskey’ (Moblit). If Eren had to put up with Hange every single day, all day, he’d probably drink even more than Moblit did. Eren was prideful of sharing his father’s callsign, though. He hoped his own kids would pick up the mantle after he was gone. Well, provided he didn’t end up as a piece of the Ackerman’s own mantle.</p><p>He ran a finger through his freshly dyed hair and observed himself through the reflection the plastic cast over the translucent crate. His eyes were clouded with grey, a stark contrast from his normally vibrant, turquoise pupils. His shuffled through his documents one final time as he unconsciously stepped towards the crate’s entrance. From this moment on, he was Zeke. He couldn’t hesitate when someone called his name. He couldn’t respond to the name ‘Eren’ at all, if by some coincidence another man had it, or they tested him to see if it’d garner a reaction. Taking a deep breath, he turned the crate’s mechanism and swung it open carefully. As he was hit with a blinding ray of sunlight, he absorbed the surrounding docks he could see from the ship’s deck. </p><p>He knew that the Ackerman clan conducted their business on a privately owned island known only as ‘Paradis’, and that it was a ways away from the nation of Marley. He knew that the Ackermans paid a hefty amount to keep Marley’s government out of their business, but what he didn’t know was that Marley itself conducted trade with Paradis. But from the flagpole adorning the ship adjacent to their own, he saw the Marleyan flag swaying gently in the breeze. He felt a pit rise in his stomach as he pondered the involvement of governments in the horrendous business the Ackermans conducted. Was his own nation, Eldia, a part of this horrible trade? The ship he’d been brought in on belonged to a privately owned company known as the Reeves Corporation, but the ship he saw was definitely a Marleyan military frigate, no doubt about it. </p><p>He saw crates filled with God-Knows-What illegal substances being exchanged between a man in a Marleyan officer uniform and a tall, dirty blonde man with a goatee. The latter was wearing some sort of tuxedo, and he saw a steel grey ring with a teacup on it attached to the man’s index finger. That was without a doubt the Ackerman symbol. Eren shuffled to the edge of the ship’s deck and cupped his ear, careful to stay out of direct line of sight. He turned his microphone on to see if could catch any of the audio. Eren himself was able to hear them crystal clear.</p><p>“Well, Theo. Long time no see.” The dirty blonde’s voice was amiable, yet kept a certain professionalism present in the tone. He noticed that the military officer was sweating nervously as he scratched the back of his neck. </p><p>“Oh, y-yes, Mr Gin. The officer swallowed abruptly. “We wanted to make sure we had a worthy load of goods before we came back, y’know? Damned terrorists in the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers are getting their hands on these crates of machine guns and explosives.” The man, Theo, apparently, was clearly unnerved to be there. Eren pondered if he was the figurehead here, or if his superiors put him up to this. Unfortunately, he didn’t get an answer.</p><p>“Everything seems to be all good here, Magath,” the blonde, Mr. Jinn(?) kicked the crate for emphasis. “You can get back into your pirate ship and sail the seven seas. My own men can load these crates up.” He shuffled around in his pockets and extended his arm to Theo. He was holding a silver-grey card with the same teacup as his ring on it. Theo shakily took the card, muttered his thanks, and signaled for his crew to retreat to their ship. </p><p>Eren had to wait for the Marleyan ship to leave the docks before he could risk slipping into the role of a servant. He was supposed to find the mess hall of the enormous  Ackerman mansion by 17:50 (he had roughly an hour), and the Marleyan ship thankfully left incredibly fast. On one hand, Eren was grateful, and on the other, Eren was unnerved that such a powerful nation’s military quivered in fear of the Ackermans. He noticed a slim, short haired woman with platinum blonde hair casually sling a rope over the hull of the ship. She glanced at him for a moment and blinked her eyes in a pattern. Eren recognized it as Morse code, and it was his signal to go.</p><p>Without a moment to lose, Eren stealthily somersaulted his way over to the rope, and expertly slid down the sturdy piece without so much as a burn. Once his feet were upon the salty and wet docks, the rope rose back up onto the ship without warning. </p><p>In the distance, Eren could see an enormous and beautiful estate, adorned with beautiful hedges, fountains, and statues decorating it’s outside.</p><p>There was no going back now. </p><p>—=—</p><p> </p><p>Somehow, Eren had made it to the servant orientation on time. He quickly picked up that he wasn’t the only new servant, but that there were plenty of veteran servants attending the orientation as well. He learned that regardless of seniority, all servants were required to attend orientations to be reminded of ‘who their masters are.’ Eren shuffled nervously as he stood in the enormous mess hall, surrounded on all sides by people of all genders and ages wearing the same simple rags as himself. </p><p>Unlike most other events where you’d chatter amongst yourselves before the speaker began, the entire hall was deathly silent, despite the fact that easily over two hundred people were inside of it. It was so quiet that Eren could hear each person breathing individually out of sync, clearly at varying levels of stress. To his direct right, there was a tall brunette boy that had to be around Eren’s age of 20 (he was a prodigious graduate). The man was shaking his whole body in fear, deep pools of sweat forming on his neck and forehead. Eren assumed that he was a newbie like himself. To keep up appearances, Eren feigned a persona of fear, sweating to a degree, but not as severely as the man next to him. </p><p>On his left, he saw a brunette woman with a ponytail slowly raising her hand up to her mouth, and then back to her pocket. Curiously, Eren peered around to get a better look. Was she...</p><p>
  <em>...eating?</em>
</p><p>He saw a shorter boy with a shaved buzzcut punch her in the shoulder, causing the girl to mutter a single ‘oomph’ that attracted the attention of several other nearby servants. She (reluctantly) seemed to receive his message, as she stopped trying to eat for the rest of the ceremony. Eren figured that girl was either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. Or both. </p><p>As he anxiously tapped his foot against the immaculate marble floor, he had to restrain himself from whistling a tune. Instead, to keep himself occupied, he allowed his eyes to wander over the sights that the admittedly beautiful mess hall had to offer. The pristine, mahogany tables were carefully folded a giant the southern portion of the room, with two armed guards standing at each side. Speaking of armed guards, Eren counted a total of 20 armed guards surrounding their group, and another two snipers above the glass ceiling. The walls themselves were decorated with vibrant pieces of art and literature. Eren was able to make out a framed painting of a gigantic woman stretching her hands into the sky, titled ‘Subjects of Ymir.’ Despite the fact it was later in the day, the dusky sunlight shone through the pristine glass and highlighted everyone’s faces. It was somewhat of an ironic situation, seeing as everyone was clearly miserable. He decided to look around for anybody he might recognize, particularly, Callsign: Royal. </p><p>As he nonchalantly glanced over each guard, he didn’t recognize any of them very well. He noticed that a makeshift stage was at the very front of the mess hall, and a total of six guards surrounded it. All six of the guards were men, so they weren’t who he was looking for. His eyes wandered back over the servants, and he noticed a taller freckled woman who reminded him of Ilse. She had a bored expression on her face, and Eren could make out something that looked like an unlit cigarette being twirled between her fingers. A few rows back from her, he spotted a freckled boy clutching the hand of a guy with ridiculous (to Eren, at least) two-toned tawny hair, and Eren was struck with a feeling of deja vu. He certainly recognized that look from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite place it. </p><p>His gaze quickly shot back to the center stage on instinct, where a young woman with red hair and hazel eyes wore a goofy grin. She was repeatedly whacking a wooden spoon against a glass goblet, shouting “Attention!” In a joking manner. Eren raised his eyebrow at this clearly carefree and joyful character that was supposedly a high ranking member in the Titans. He decided to further judge his approach to her by the reactions of his peers. He noticed that while many of the fresher servants looked up at her with the same confusion he did, the rest of them had absolute terror written across their faces. The redhead laughed and tossed the spoon to the side, where it whacked against the wall. She giggled, before clearing her throat to speak again.</p><p>“Howdy, everyone!” She smiled brightly, fiddling with the glass goblet as she kept her gaze upon the servants. “Whether you’re new or a vet to our little family, welcome to your servant orientation!” Her eyes narrowed when the room went silent. “You’re supposed to clap, dummies.” Reluctantly, the whole room began to clap half-heartedly, save for the brunette girl and buzz cut boy to his left, who were whooping with enthusiasm. The redhead laid eyes upon them and gave them an approving thumbs up. “That’s the enthusiasm I like to see!” She fiddled with her pigtails, viewing her reflection through the glass. “I’m Isabel, and I’m one of Mister Ackerman’s hands! His left hand, to be precise.” Eren assumed that meant she was his second in command. </p><p>“Now, Im supposed to call each new bum up for a room key and schedule and yadda yadda boring, but before I make these lovely guards do that for me, let me tell you a short story.” The guards didn’t flinch at the news of their job, but at the mention of a story, they all simultaneously winced. What the hell was up with this girl? She acted like a ditzy high school student, but that couldn’t be what she was really like...</p><p>...could it?</p><p>Eren got his answer faster than he would have liked.</p><p>Isabel smiled brightly to a young boy in the first row, a blonde with huge sideburns, and a look of pure horror in his eyes. He was visibly trembling as the guard closest to him ushered him onstage, and Isabel gave him a hearty pat on the back, to which he let out an audible yelp. “This here’s Thomas,” she slurred, “And he’s my assistant for this story.” Suddenly, her smile fell off her face and was replaced with a scornful ray of pure anger. </p><p>As she began to speak, she tapped the glass against her fingernail, circling Thomas like a vulture. “Thomas here was hungry. Oh so very hungry, just like a lot of us can be, right?” </p><p>The audience nodded, including the guards. Thomas began to weep into his hands as Isabel drew closer to him.</p><p>“So, he figures he’ll go into the rations and grab himself just one itty bitty extra snack, doesn’t he, now?”</p><p>She jolts forward, and rips Thomas’s hands away from his face. Eren notices that the edges of his lips are red with blood, and that he’s trying to speak, but the words aren’t enunciated. </p><p>“And let’s say that a certain pretty girl happens to catch him in the act.” Thomas was completely sobbing now, and Eren found it difficult to keep watching. He figured that if he didn’t look, he might meet a similar fate. “Let’s say she decides to be gentle on the punishment, and all she does is take his tongue a little souvenir.”</p><p>Oh.</p><p>That’s why he can’t speak. Why his mouth is soaked in blood. Why he’s sobbing relentlessly. </p><p>
  <em>She ripped out his fucking tongue.</em>
</p><p>Eren winced at this realization, but Isabel was far from done. “And then let’s say he takes her generosity for granted, and swings a fist out. Let’s say he does that.” </p><p>The room was deathly still, and even Thomas had stopped weeping. Isabel slowly crept towards him, her fingers gently lifting his chin to meet her gaze. </p><p>
  <em>“He doesn’t get a second chance.”</em>
</p><p>With a petrifying shriek, Isabel smashed the glass goblet over the top of Thomas’s head. Sweeping him off his feet with a roundhouse kick, she placed her foot against his throat. As he begged for mercy the best he could without a goddamn tongue, Isabel hummed a tune to herself as she sifted through the glass shards. Eren recognized the tune as ‘You are my Sunshine.’ </p><p>Isabel scraped her finger against a particularly jagged shard of glass, and winced ever so slightly as blood drips of it. She grinned with a smirk similar in nature to the steel grey Ackerman on the video tape as she carefully lifted her foot off of Thomas.</p><p>The boy shot upwards, attempting to make a run for it, but Isabel easily subdued him. Grabbing him by the waist and holding him against herself, she plunged the glass shard deep into his neck, laughing maniacally as she repeatedly drew copious amounts of blood from the poor boy’s throat. She pushed him to the ground and straddled his body, stabbing him the wrists, eyes, groin, and heels. The stage was painted with the crimson blood of the poor boy, whose last gurgling breaths could be heard reverberating throughout the room as he choked on his own blood. </p><p>After the longest minute of Eren’s life, Thomas’s body went fully limp, and his desperate muffled shrieks were silent. Frowning, Isabel kicked his body off of the stage like a log, where it landed with a disgusting <em>smoosh</em> against the white marble. The people in the front row gave no reaction, their gaze never faltering from Isabel.</p><p>The redhead clapped her hands together in triumph, and began to giggle. “I hope you all enjoyed the story! I do so love telling them” She caught the eye of a young woman, and winked to her. “Let’s hope that one of you lovelies can be my lovely assistant next time!” She waltzed off the stage with pep in her step, humming as three of the six guards accompanied her out of the room. </p><p>As Eren’s gaze faltered over the corpse of Thomas just a few dozen feet in front of him, he began to well up with tears. </p><p>This was hell. </p><p>
  <em>And he’d stepped into it willingly.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. To The Slaughter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eren becomes acquainted with his fellow servants, and he recognizes one of them. He meets a member of the Ackerman clan officially, but she isn’t exactly what he’d expected. Another member of the Ackerman clan is exactly what he’d expected, maybe even worse.</p><p>AKA Eren is a massive dick and Mikasa is a sweet bean. Levi is terrifying, and probably a murderous sociopath.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please feel free to leave a comment with any criticism or mistakes you see!</p><p>While this fic will mostly revolve around Mikasa, Eren, and Armin, I want to explore the relationships the other characters have as well. Everyone in the story has their own little arc, even if it’s tiny.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few hours were nothing but white noised blur.</p><p>Eren unconsciously stepped forward in some hastily formed line to receive his room key, eyeing the scratched metal number, ‘104’, that accompanied it. His feet seemed to traverse the halls with minds of their own, as Eren himself took in one painful sight and one painful sound over and over again.</p><p>That boy’s gurgled screams. His pleas for mercy that fell into incoherent noises. The cackling of the psychopathic woman who left him bloodied and battered across the marble floor.</p><p>If he fucked up in any way at all, that would be him. Just like it was Ilse. Just like it was Thomas.</p><p>
  <em>Just like it was Armin.</em>
</p><p>Eren found himself sobbing into a rigid mattress, mourning the loss of his best friend. His mind descended into a spiral of depression, imagining the horrific screams and painful actions that Armin had to endure before his death. Eren knew these people were brutal, but what he’d seen in the mess hall finally let it sink in. </p><p>He didn’t have to find Armin to know that his love was already in pieces, likely being fed to their bloodhounds in some sort of fucked up Ackerman ritual. Armin’s head was plastered onto a mantle piece, forever tormented above a burning fireplace. He soaked his dirtied pillow with tears, ignoring the muffled sound of voices entering the room after him. </p><p>He was ripped out of his grief by a sudden jerk of the pillow from underneath his face. </p><p>The pillow was flung against the far side of the room with a soft thud, and Eren’s eyes fluttered to who he could only assume was the perpetrator of the action. He counted 5 people in total, their blurry figures barely visible through his drying tears. He was able to focus his gaze onto the closest asshat to himself, a blonde boy with a stoic build, and of relatively intimidating height. He was easily four times the size of Eren weight and strength wise, and combined with his grief for Armin, he was in no condition to fight.</p><p>When his furious piercing eyes met the blonde’s softened gaze, Eren raised a brow in confusion. This guy wasn’t going to beat the shit out of him? The blonde placed a hand on Eren shoulder, rubbing it gently. He smiled to the smaller boy, and offered his hand to assist Eren in standing. Eren graciously accepted his offer, and dusted himself off.</p><p>“Sorry for yanking your pillow like that, bud,” The blonde apologized. “We’d been trying to get your attention for a good ten minutes, but you weren’t budging, so...” His voice trailed off, an awkward chuckle rising from his throat. Clearing his throat of it’s raspiness, Eren introduced himself as the man he wasn’t. </p><p>“It’s okay, I was just scared, y’know?” Eren’s words didn’t feel like his own; He’d rehearsed these lines hundreds of times in his head over his three day boat trip. “M-my name is Zeke.” His voice was accented with a fake stutter feigning the persona of a nerve wracked teen. “W-what’s yours?” </p><p>The taller blonde patiently smiled to the younger. He seemed to be a brotherly figure to the other four, whom so far, had just been silently observing the interaction between the two. “No problem, bud, us blondies gotta stick together, right?” The man laughed at his own joke, a hearty chuckle that rang like a drum in Eren’s ears. “My name is Reiner. Reiner Braun. Lemme get these asswipes to introduce themselves to you, Zeke.”</p><p>Before Eren could object, or politely decline any further interaction, Reiner was barking commands to the four boys like a drill sergeant. Actually, it seemed he was barking commands to three of the boys, and softly caressing a cheek of the fourth with his thumb. The boy flushed a deep crimson color and muttered something about ‘first impressions’, whilst the other three sprung forward and crowded around Eren.</p><p>“Man, Jesus, I’m sorry that orientation was your introduction here.” A boy short with shaved brown hair and a wide smile held his hand out in greetings. “I’m Connie, and the one Reiner’s eye-fucking is Bertholdt.” Out of the corner of his eyes, Eren saw Reiner make a choking gesture towards Connie, and the taller boy - Bertholdt - turn a deep shade of scarlet. He wasn’t really interesting in becoming invested in these people, but for the sake of his mission (and Armin’s vengeance), he’d go along with. Offering a wide Smith in return, he took Connie’s hand.</p><p>“Nice to meet you, Connie. My name’s Zeke.” He chuckled hollowly, and Eren noticed the eyebrows of the freckled boy next to Connie shoot up in suspicion. The third boy, a toned man with dark, fluffy hair, leaned against his bedpost and scowled to the floor. “Who are you two?” His personality was so easy to fake that it hurt; But it seemed like this freckled boy wasn’t easily tricked. Or maybe he was wary of new people? Either way, Eren had to be careful.</p><p>Surprisingly, the freckled boy gave a sincere smile and wave in return. “I’m Marco, Zeke,” He began, genuine enthusiasm highlighting his words. “I hope we can help you get accustomed to staying here. Especially after that...” Marco coughed into his elbow. “...yeah. Anyways, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask us, okay?” Marco pivoted to face the third boy. “Floch, are you gonna be an angsty asshole? You know that’s Jean’s j-“ </p><p>—“Okay, okay.” The boy lightened his scowl, his fluffy hair bouncing as he turned to shake Eren’s hand. His shake lacked enthusiasm, but not in a hostile way. The name Marco mention, Jean, struck another familiar chord in his memory. Before he could ponder any further, Floch was speaking again. “This place sucks ass, and we’re all going to die here. Call me when we revolt.” With that, Floch shoved Marco aside and clambered into an upper bunk bed in the top right corner of the dormitory. Marco sighed in frustration, and Connie was making kissy noises at the couple, who looked ready to snap his scrawny neck. </p><p>The atmosphere was abnormally calming, for such a horrible place. Eren was unnerved by his roommates avoiding the topic of Thomas, so he decided it was best to address the elephant in the room. </p><p>“Did you guys know Thomas at all?” </p><p>Immediately, the room fell silent. Bertholdt and Reiner had stopped their gentle conversation, and turned to face Eren with lightning speed. Marco’s eyes began to well up with tears, and Connie hid himself behind the taller boy. A light scoff could be heard from the direction of Floch’s bed.</p><p>“Oh, no. We didn’t know him at all.” Floch’s sarcasm was laced with a venom his earlier words lacked. “It’s not like he slept right underneath me.” </p><p>Eren’s heart sank as he realized these people were Thomas’s old roommates. “I—“ He began.</p><p>“—No, we didn’t know him at all, <em>Zeke</em>“, Floch snarled. “I definitely wasn’t his best friend. He definitely wasn’t Marco’s chess partner. He definitely didn’t draw the various pictures on the walls,” Floch gestures to the framed drawings that adorned the dorm walls. “He definitely wasn’t—“</p><p>“Okay, Floch, I think he gets it.” Marco muttered, taking a step towards the hallway. “ ‘M gonna go find Jean an’ Marlowe.” Marco pushed past Eren with apathy, his bubbly personality vanquished. Connie was left without his shield, and quickly scurried off after Marco. Eren’s heart sank as he could hear tears being shed from around the corner.  </p><p>Reiner leaned against the wall and sighed, Bertholdt clutching his hand tightly. Reiner motioned for Eren to come over. “C’mere, Zeke,” The muscled blonde sighed, “These asswipes won’t answer your questions, so I guess I might as well.” </p><p>Eren reluctantly wandered over to Reiner’s bed, sitting himself into the mattress with discomfort. Reiner pecked Bertholdt on the cheek, whispered something into his ear, and plopped down next to Eren. His wide frame caused a shockwave across the mattress as he sat, garnering a soft yelp from the tiny brunette. Eren felt lost in his own identity as he played with a strand of blonde hair. </p><p>“What do you want to know?” Reiner gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Think of me as your big brother.” </p><p>Eren’s swallowed, and decided to make the best of this opportunity. But first, he figured it was best to apologize. “Listen, Reiner, I am so sorry about that. If I knew, I’d never have asked.” He felt Reiner shudder beside him. </p><p>“No, it’s an important question.” Reiner gazed up to the ceiling, contemplating what exactly to say. “Thomas was our roommate and good friend, yeah. That fuckin’ psychopath you saw does shit like that at least once every few months. Thomas even didn’t try to steal anything, he wasn’t a fucking moron. She set him up because she didn’t like ‘how goody two shoes’ he was.” Eren noticed Reiner’s fists clenching with anger, and Eren soon found himself doing the same. “Thomas was a sweet, kind-hearted dude, and that bitch thought it would be funny to treat him like a goddamn human target.” </p><p>“But why would they just discard their own workers like that?” Eren blurred out, aware of the suspicion that question likely aroused. He swallowed nervously as he saw Floch raise an eyebrow from his bed. </p><p>If Reiner noticed, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. “Fuck if I know. They’ve got us hook, line, and sinker here. I dunno how they roped you into this slavepen, but once you’re in,” Eren saw deep pain flashing in the steel eyes of his blonde companion, “You never come back out.” Reiner tapped his fingers against the wooden bed frame. “They take your identity, your security, your everything. You don’t exist outside of here anymore. They do that shit because they’re fucked in the head, and they know they can get away with it.”</p><p>His mind entertaining thoughts of friendship with these people, Eren decided to shift gears into more positive territory. “Hey, why don’t you tell me about you guys? That Marco dude mentioned two guys named Jean and...Marley?” Eren guessed. He purposefully mentioned Marlowe incorrectly to shift attention away from his interest in Jean.</p><p>“Marlowe.” Reiner corrected with a groan. “He’s not a bad guy, but he’s like a rule book grew legs and a mouth. He takes everything so seriously, and worries over the slightest detail.” Reiner ruffled Eren’s hair playfully. “As for Jean, he seems like the opposite of you. Loud, brash, always starting arguments.” Ironically, Reiner has just described Eren exactly. Zeke, however, was indeed a pushover. “He means well, but he can be a pain in the ass.” Reiner tapped Eren’s shoulder and pointed towards a framed drawing on the wall. </p><p>Eren immediately recognized Marco as one of the two men in the picture, his wide smile and freckles dead giveaways. Eren recognized the ridiculous two-toned hairstyle he’d had the misfortune of viewing in the mess hall, and snickered. That must be Jean. “If Jean’s ever bugging you, just get Marco. He’s essentially Jean’s equivalent of crack cocaine.” Reiner again laughed at his own joke, and Eren found himself laughing along with him.</p><p>A pillow flew by Eren’s head, tossed by Floch in order to shut them up. The tawny haired boy in the drawing, Jean, was clouding Eren’s thoughts. He was absolutely certain he’d seen the man before somewhere. For the life of himself, he just couldn’t fucking remember.</p><p>Suddenly, the door flew open, and Eren was reminded of why he’d forgotten Jean. As four people waltzed into the dorm, he picked up a whiny voice’s protests.</p><p>“...n’t finished our cleaning duties,” A boy with black hair styled into a bowl cut seemed to be chewing out the other three. Behind him was Connie, currently rolling his eyes and mocking what the bowl cut boy said. Every sentence he’d say, Connie would mock. And it was honestly pretty hilarious. </p><p>“We need to go and finish cleaning the restrooms, on the double!” He attempted to command.</p><p>“Wee niiid two goah annnd fwinish cweaning da bawfwoom!” Connie mocked in a baby voice. Eren snickered at the display despite himself. </p><p>Reiner gave Eren another pat as Bowl Cut sighed in defeat to Connie. “That’s Marlowe,” he introduced, “and he’s as much a stick in the mud as ever.” Narrowing his eyes, Marlowe inhaled to speak, but Reiner clasped his hand over his mouth. He turned towards the door, where another boy was in a hand lock with Marco. “That’s our resident asshole, Jean.”</p><p>Eren heard a scoff as the boy’s face came clear into view. “Oh, fuck off, Reiner. At least I don’t moan like a foghorn when I get off.” The boy indeed had two-toned sandy brown hair, it’s texture rigid and stiff, matching his personality. Eren’s mind lit up like a lightbulb, and then immediately smashed that lightbulb into a million pieces in disgust.</p><p>
  <em>Kirschstein.</em>
</p><p>Of fucking course his high school rival was now his slave roommate. Of fucking course he couldn’t even fight back now, since he was undercover. Of course Jean was apparently involved with Marco, a sweet and bubbly soul who was currently scolding Jean for his ‘sharing of personal information’. Of course of course of course.</p><p>Of course. </p><p>Eren kept a straight face despite his burning hatred for the horse faced asshole standing just ten feet away, now pulling Marco in for a kiss. Connie faked more gagging noises and Jean threw a punch into his chest, knocking him on his ass. Marlowe was still screaming about cleaning, and Jean and Marco were walking over to their bunk with wide smiles. Reiner was talking to Eren, but he was seething at the memory of Jean. </p><p>Jean had fucking ruined his high school life. Well, technically it was Eren’s own fault, but his psyche refused to admit that to himself. In all honesty, Jean was hurt much more than Eren was. Eren essentially destroyed his chances at a future career in football, whilst simultaneously ruining his relationship.</p><p>It was their junior year, and they were attending their mutual friend Pieck’s Halloween party. Jean and Eren often butted heads during the school day, with Jean scolding Eren for his idealistic views of the world. He’d often tease Eren about growing a pair and getting real when Eren mentioned his goals of becoming a Survey Corps agent. Eren was furious with Jean’s laziness; The boy was incredibly talented in academics and athletics, but barely put any effort forth. Eren had to work his ass off for a B minus whereas Horseface could waltz in on one hour of sleep and get a 98. It wasn’t like Jean bragged about how good his scores was, but he wasn’t modest about other topics. </p><p>Particularly, how he was ‘going steady’ with Eren’s crush. Of course, she wasn’t really his crush, Armin took that honor, but Eren was going through his ‘I absolutely refuse that I’m gay’ phase. Looks like Jean was in the same phase. Eren’s ‘crush’ was a sweet girl by the name of Marlene, and she’d recently dumped her ex, Dirk. Jean offered her a coffee and they supposedly hit it off.</p><p>To get back at Jean, he decided to publicly humiliate the boy. He’d brought a bottle of sugar alcohol to the party, and planned to sprinkle some into Jean’s beer while he and Marlene were making out on a couch (he assumed that’s what a douche like Jean would do). He was surprised by what he actually saw, however.</p><p>Jean was wearing a blue tunic with his hair gelled over in an admittedly attractive way. Marlene was in a pink dress with a crown, her dyed blonde locks twirled into beautiful braids. They were sitting on a couch with some other classmates, laughing and smiling at one another. Eren casually plopped himself down on the couch next to them, and Marlene greeted him warmly. Jean gave him a slight wave, even. Taken aback by Jean’s unusually polite behavior, he searched for the beer Jean had to be drinking. </p><p>Except Jean wasn’t holding a beer. He was drinking straight water, and was clearly sober as the day was long. What the fuck was with this asshole? Eren was seething with rage. Jean had to have known his plan. He knew ahead of time, and was fucking with him. There had to be no other explanation. Jean thought he was so fucking clever, avoiding Eren’s laxatives by drinking a clear beverage. Well, Eren could play at that game, too. He’d initiate an offer nobody could refuse:</p><p>“You guys wanna play ‘Never Have I Ever?’ Losers drink.” He heard a few whistles and “yeahs!” Reverberate across the room, but he noticed Jean shake his head. </p><p>“No thanks, Eren, I don’t really drink.” Eren’s mouth was agape. The asshole Jean fucking Kirschstein didn’t drink? But he was such a lazy slacker! He had to be stoned of drunk or...something like that. It would take many years for Eren to realize the stereotypes he was perpetuating. Jean grasped Marlene’s hand. “Gotta drive her home, anyways.” Eren smiled maliciously at the ammunition he’d been given.</p><p>“Oh, so you’re laying off the drugs to keep your girlfriend around?” He teased. “No weed or whiskey for Kirschstein today, gotta get into Marlene’s pants.” Everyone in the room turned to face them. Marlene was flipping her gaze between Jean and Eren, horrified at the accusations against Jean, and appalled by Eren’s language used against herself. Jean looked like a deer caught in headlights, all of the color draining from his face. His lip sputtered in an attempt to defend himself, but he couldn’t from coherent words. Eren pushed it further.</p><p>“Marlene, what are you doing with a druggie bum like him? I mean, look at his hair every morning at school, it looks like he just sucked dick for drug money.” The three shots Eren had taken to calm his nerves earlier did him no favors. Marlene whipped around to face Jean, her face red with unbridled fury. </p><p>“What the fuck, Jean? You’ve been doing drugs behind my fucking back? When you know my brother is in rehab?” Marlene stood up, ripping her crown and wig off. She rolled up her sleeves and Jean yelped.</p><p>“I don’t know what the fuck he’s even talking about!” Jean hissed. “I’ve never even been drunk before. Where the fuck are you getting this info from, Jaeger?” </p><p>“Don’t deflect the fucking conversation back to him. This is between you and me.”</p><p>“But I didn’t even fucking do anything! I swear, Marlene, you know I can’t even do dr-</p><p>“—Oh, here Jean goes! Using mental illness as a deflection!” Marlene pushed further into Jean’s private life. He fell back onto the couch in a stunned trance, horrified at the details she revealed. “You can’t just fucking say you have depression and expect me and everyone else to fucking dote over you!”</p><p>Jean was holding back tears at this point. “I—“</p><p>“No, shut the fuck up, you dick.” Marlene hissed. She grabbed Jean by the neck, throwing him against the wooden floor. Jean fumbled against her grip, but was too dejected to really defend himself. Marlene was blonde’s with rage, and she threw him against the coffee table. </p><p>A sickening crack was heard as Marlene pounced on top of Jean, her fists railing into his head. Pieck was shrieking at her boyfriend Porco to get her off of him, but he wasn’t able to restrain her. She lifted Jean again, and he shrieked in pain, his arm grasping at his clavicle. Marlene aimed her sharp high top heel at the poor boy’s knee, and a sickening pop reverberated around the room<br/>
as Jean flew backwards into the wall. Pieck rushed to his side, calling for an ambulance, as Marlene furiously stormed out of the party. </p><p>Eren had majorly fucked up. He knew that, deep down, but his pride refused to allow himself to admit his mistakes. He built up this facade that Jean was a horrible human being and he would keep that wall up until the day he died. All in all, Jean was majorly fucked up. Slamming against the coffee table had fractured his clavicle, and his knee caving in backwards combined with the awkward angle it landed in as he flew into the wall had majorly torn his ACL. He wasn’t going to be allowed to play for the football team for at least 5 months, and college scouts were due the next week. Not only did Trost High lose their star goalie, Jean had lost the hope of getting his dream job as professional goalie. </p><p>Rumors circulated like wildfire, and Jean’s coach made him take an obscene amount of drug tests over the next few months. He passed them all, because Eren had completely made up Jean doing any drugs. It was the way he thought Jean was, and his hotheaded nature combined with a loose tongue destroyed Jean’s future.</p><p>Eren thought he deserved it.</p><p>None of his classmates spoke to him for the next two years, and Jean refused to sue Marlene for assault because of her family’s financial burdens dealing with her brother. Even with all those hindrances, Jean graduated 6th in the class, just one spot behind Eren. He should’ve gotten that Scholarship to Stohess University, but Eren guessed that they gave it to the fucker out of pity. </p><p>God, he fucking hated Jean Kirschstein. </p><p>As Jean held hands with Marco, Eren noticed the bastard still had a slight limp, and smiled triumphantly to himself. </p><p>“...Zeke? Uh, hello, dude?” An inquisitive Reiner poked at his shoulder sharply. Eren let out a startled yelp.</p><p>“Oh. Hmm?” He smiled innocently. Reiner raised an eyebrow, but continued. </p><p>“Just uh, asking again...” The blonde huffed, clearly frustrated, “If we can go over your servant schedule tomorrow. They’ll bring it in around this time every night, usually after we shower.” Reiner motioned towards the dimly lit bathroom that accompanied their dorm room. “If you need a towel, grab one from the closet two doors to the left. Can’t miss it.” Eren nodded, taking that as his hint to go and grab some shit for himself. Taking one last glance around the room, he noticed one less body than usual. He hummed to himself as he eyed the labels on each door once he was in the hallway.</p><p>Exactly two doors to the left, creaky wooden door with a post-it-note scribbled onto it was labeled, “SERVANT UTILITIES.” As he rolled his eyes and freaked open the door, he yelped when a hand jerked him inside. The assailant had the darkness of the room on his side, and he clicked the lock shut. Eren hissed and widely punched into the air, connecting one with a hiss from his target. The light switch abruptly flipped on, and Eren saw none other than Jean fucking Kirschstein getting punched in the cheek by his truly. </p><p>“You scared me, Jean!” Eren slipped into his Zeke facade with ease. “I just got here, and I don’t know anyone! Seriously, the first thing I see is someone being butchered an-“ </p><p>“Drop the fucking act, Yeager. I know who you are.” Jean practically growled to the shorter man, a fiery rage burning in his amber pupils. Eren was completely stunned. He blinked in restraint, before his resolve snapped, and he flung into his hatred of Jean headfirst. </p><p>“I’m surprised you can recognize me, Horseface, didn’t know you had more than two brain cells left after all that drinking.” He hissed, and Jean’s expression winced in pain. Was Jean afraid of him? How the fuck did he recognize him, actually? Was Jean going to expose him? </p><p>Did he have to kill Jean? Honestly, he didn’t think he’d mind that so much.</p><p>“Like I could ever forget the sadistic fuck who ruined my entire life,” Jean spat. “You ruined my chances of professional football, and no company would hire me with all of the drug allegations that followed me into college. It’s the reason I’m here, you fucking asshole.” Eren could see that Jean was holding back tears. </p><p>“You deserved that, Kirschstein, and you know it.” Eren shoved him backwards, earning a yelp in pain as Jean grasped at his knee. “Fucking crippled, huh?” Eren teased. </p><p>Jean was absolutely furious. Eren expected him to tackle him into the ground, and that would give Eren the perfect excuse to break his lanky neck. Instead, Jean took five deep breaths, and muttered something under his breath Eren didn’t catch. His words were shaky when they finally emerged. </p><p>“I’m not going to say anything about who you are, they’d probably kill me, too.” Jean looked up to Eren, and the floodgates has opened. Jean sobbed into his own arms, and Eren had to forcefully shove any sympathy back down into his body. “I just wanted to say something to you, one last time, you fucking asshole.” </p><p>“Likewise.” Eren retorted.</p><p>“I never fuckin’ did anything to you, and you ruined my fucking life!” He snapped, before calming himself down again. “That’s not why I’m here. I’m asking you to stay away from Marco.” </p><p>Eren’s eyebrows rose in amusement. “Oh, Jean’s in love with another boy? Did Marlene kick you so bad you turned into a girl?” Eren was a man possessed, his unbridled hatred of the Ackermans being manifested into hate for Jean. He could see that Jean was crying again, but he didn’t fucking care. This felt good. </p><p>“Just...stay away from him, you utter sociopath!” Jean shrieked, and Eren winced at the high pitches. “He’s all I fucking have left, and if you’re here, you’re going to get people killed. I remember how I used to tease you about becoming some hotshot agent, but I guess I shouldn’t have.” Jean laughed weakly, more out of pain than humor. “I couldn’t care less what the fuck you do to me, but Marco? Marco deserves better.” </p><p>Before Eren could retort, Jean pushed past him and slammed the door. It was only after Jean was gone that Eren recoiled in horror. Had he really just said all of those horrible things to Jean? And the weight of his actions from high school sunk in.</p><p>Jean was basically enslaved here because of Eren. Jean lost everything because of Eren. And Jean could easily turn Eren in and have him killed, but he didn’t do that.</p><p>Instead, he asked Eren to leave the person he cared about alone. </p><p>Eren’s breathing grew uneven as he realized how much of a monster he himself truly was.</p><p>—==—</p><p>Eren didn’t get much sleep that night, mostly pondering how he could possibly atone for being a complete asshole to Jean while also keeping his cover. He decided that following Jean’s plea to stay away from Marco was a good start, and maybe he could go from there. He was aware that trying to make amends with Jean wasn’t entirely the most efficient way to remain undetected, but since his mission objective is unknown at this point anyways after Armin’s unclear status, he figured it was more than worth it to try. </p><p>When Eren finally was able to get some good oil’ shuteye, a loud and obnoxious kick against their dormitory wall from the hallway awoke him abruptly. He jolted upwards with a slight yelp of surprise, his eyes searching for the source of the noise. From atop his bunk, he noticed Floch groaning about cleaning duty to Marco, Jean and Bertholdt brushing their teeth, and Reiner still snoring. He assumed Marlowe was already off sucking the guards off with how enthusiastic the guy was about working. Sighing, Eren clambered down from his bunk, ready to start his new life officially.</p><p>For a bunch of murderous sadists who held no value towards the sanctity of human life, the clothes the Ackermans provided were immaculately clean. The servant’s clothes were all identical; A pair of black jeans and a white undershirt, with a grey vest sporting a ring on its back going over the top. The other things they were given? Not so much. The toothbrush he was given had teeth marks among the handle, and some of the bristles were ruffled. His towel sported several suspicious looking stains (none of which were blood), and the pillow he received was full of itchy straw that flared up Eren’s sinuses. In other words, the Ackermans had their people dress to impress, and then suffer basically the entirety of the rest of their day.</p><p>Reiner was busy going over Eren’s schedule for the week, which he learned would be given to him at the end of each day, in case he lost his ‘like a suicidal bastard’, according to Jean. Eren let the insult roll of his back as Marco scolded him, and Floch rolled his eyes at their shenanigans. From what Eren could gather, he would be repainting the southern corridor hallways in the estate for his first few hours of work, directly after breakfast. Then, after lunch, he’d be on kitchen duty for several hours, preparing dinner and cleaning up after lunch. Finally, after dinner, he’d report to the west wing for an inspection conducted by a member of the Ackerman clan. </p><p>Eren would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. It was extremely hard for him to pass his infiltration classes in the academy, mostly because his eyes would flare a vibrant shade of red whenever he told a lie. Eventually, Armin taught him to control how the color of his ears reacted, based on keeping his emotions in check. Armin helped Eren out so much through the academy, even at his own expense. And yesterday, without even searching for him, Eren assumed Armin was dead. He felt sick to his stomach as he followed his roommates to the mess hall for breakfast.</p><p>The mess hall was for servants and new employees to the Ackermans. Since the servants were essentially leaves, held under the threat of death, blackmail, or worse, they didn’t have much choice. The upper members and employees of the Titans ate in a lavish banquet hall, and the servants were forbidden from entering it for any reason whatsoever. The meals were prepared by members of the upper employment anyways; A collection of gourmet chefs apparently led by one of the Ackermans.</p><p>The mess hall, the very same place Thomas had been butchered just the night prior, was looking much different. The tables were neatly arrayed into rows, and the makeshift stage Isabel had been standing upon was completely removed. Armed guards emblazoned with the Ackerman logo of a teacup across their suits sat at every window, door, and vent that led in and out of the room. There was over a dozen in total. The atmosphere differed greatly from last night, as the room was alight with chatter and laughing. There appeared to be a line leading up to a serving area from which the cooks would serve you, like a prison cafeteria. Fitting. </p><p>Eren shuffled in behind Reiner and Bertholdt, sandwiched in front of Floch and Connie. Jean and Marco had told them not to wait up, and Conny snickered as he made sex puns to Floch. There was a small team of very tired looking servants mopping up the mess hall floors and vacant tables, and Eren recognized the shaggy bowl cut of Marlowe a few tables to their left. Marlowe was hunched over, furiously scrubbing at a stain on the tiled floor. Eren rolled his eyes as he followed his roommates up to the serving area, getting in line behind a group of chattering girls. Immediately, Connie shot between them, rushing up to the serving window. </p><p>“SASHA!” The short boy shouted, causing the rest of them to jolt upwards in surprise. Connie leapt up onto the countertop, his face giddy with glee. “Didja get it? Huh, did’ja?” His legs flailed wildly, nearly kicking a shorter blonde woman in the face. She doesn’t flinch, instead rolling her eyes as she yanks Connie back down. “Hey, Annie, let go of me! Sasha promised she have the book by now!” </p><p>“And Sasha certainly does have the book by now, Mister Springer,” Eren saw a tall, carefree woman with a ponytail poke her head out from inside the serving window, dropping some sort of hardback book onto Connie’s head. It whacked against his scalp with a thump, and bounced onto the ground, landing directly on his own foot. Connie holds back a scream, and the girl looks mortified. “Oh, shit, Con, sorry!” She fumbles back inside the kitchen for a moment, before returning with a first aid kit. “Shit, is it bad? Is your toe broken? Is—“</p><p>“Sasha, Jesus Christ, you’re going to have an aneurism if you keep worrying about Baldy here so much.” A tall freckled with a devious smirk adorning her sharp face flicked Connie’s ear playfully. Eren recognized her from yesterday’s orientation; She had been fiddling with a cigarette. She lifted the book off of his toe, placing it into his hands. “Here’s your nerd book, Connie, enjoy jacking off to dungeons and dragons or whatever the fuck it is.” Connie glares at her, and Sasha shoots out from behind the serving window again.</p><p>“It’s not a nerd book!” They both exclaim simultaneously, and then giggle when they realize they’ve spoken in unison. Reiner groaned at the couple’s painfully obvious flirting as they went back and forth about monsters, scolding Ymir about the rules of D&amp;D, how the dungeon master was a hard job, how they could play on Sundays...</p><p>Eren stopped listening when Sasha began to describe her original character as a “Big-tittied bitch with daddy issues, and a thunder spear.” </p><p>It takes another ten or minutes for all of the group to get through the line, and Eren noticed the blonde girl, Annie, and realized something important. Callsign: Royal was described to him in rumor as a petite blonde woman with blue eyes, and Annie fit that description perfectly. She certainly looked terrifying; even Floch hesitated to make a retort when she cut in from of him in line. </p><p>Like a puppy, Eren trailed behind Reiner and Bertholdt to a table nearby Marlowe, who was still vigorously cleaning the tiled floor with a pained expression. Ignoring him, his roommates and this new group of girls sat down at the table, quickly engaging in various conversations. Eventually, they all turn to look towards him, and Reiner tapped his fingers like a drama queen to get everyone’s attention.</p><p>“Alright, everyone,” his voice booming as Bertholdt groaned in embarrassment, “welcome Zeke here to our little island of servitude and torture!” The freckled girl from earlier whistled and clapped with all her might, whereas a shorter polite girl with jet black pigtails reached her hand out to him.</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you, Zeke,” her voice began, amiable and soft. “I’m Mina, and the freckled one is Ymir, the blonde is Annie, and the girl Connie was talking with back there is Sasha. She should be off kitchen duty in a few moments, so you can properly meet her.”</p><p>“We can introduce ourselves, Carolina,” Ymir snorted, “And Zeke, I hope you aren’t too discouraged by what happened yesterday. Random murders on our friends are only half routine around here.” Ymir rolled her eyes as the rest of the table seemed to stare daggers into her soul. “Just be careful and do as you’re told, and you’ll last longer than poor Wagner did.” </p><p>Floch snapped, leaning over the table to face Ymir. He pushed trays filled with shitty bits of egg and bread aside, splattering into the floor with a squelching noise that could only be described as unnatural. Two of the guards came running over as Ymir and Floch wrestled on the table, a short blonde woman, and, Eren recognized, the blonde man with the goatee, Mr Gin, as the Marleyan officer had referred to him as. With the tiny blonde surprisingly being able to singlehandedly restrain Floch while the taller man did the same to Ymir, both of them grunted and wiggled in their newly acquired handcuffs.</p><p>“We can let you go and you can act like obedient, civilized Ackerman servants,” the blonde man spoke, “or we can give both of you to Ms. Magnolia. Your choice.” Their blood seemed to freeze at the mention of Isabel (for good reason), and both relaxed in their restraints. Sitting back down into their seats dejectedly, Floch and Ymir both grunted and scoffed at one another. The two guards were already retreating to their posts, with the shorter blonde scolding the man, ‘Eld’, for threatening them so quickly.</p><p>“Jesus, I’m gone for two minutes to serve the rest of the eggs, and you two nearly kill one another?” Sasha’s tall frame plops next to Connie, her ponytail flopping around in his face. He doesn’t complain. Sasha’s gaze becomes fixated on Zeke, as their eyes lock. “Who’s this guy?” </p><p>“We were in the middle of introductions before those idiots nearly got fed to Isabel,” Annie offered helpfully, a Pokerface adorning her steely gaze. “Maybe we should let him speak on his own, though.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, my name’s Zeke.” Eren was starting to feel like a broken record. He decided to get what he could out of these people by oversharing his own bullshit story. “I was homeless, offered a job, and realized what it really was too late. Now, I’m here.” He spoke bitterly; But his body betrayed him, and his ears flashed a deep red. Without Armin there to physically ground him, he couldn’t help the reaction. </p><p>Still, they didn’t seem to notice. Or, if they did, they didn’t care. He felt Mina gaze at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll share how I got here.” Mina twiddled with her thumbs. “I was actually in the military, I wanted to be an officer in the coast guard. One day on a drug bust, we ran into the Ackermans, and they killed our officer by tying a brick to his leg and drowning him in the ocean.” Pain flashed in her eyes. “I’ve been here for three years now. Not leaving any time soon.”</p><p>“I owed so much money in hospital loans after I nearly lost my arm in a car wreck,” Reiner added. “Bertl and I didn’t know who we were borrowing from. When we found out, and knew what was coming, I told this idiot to run,” He punched Bertholdt lightly, “But he didn’t. So we’re stuck here together, going on two years now.”</p><p>Bertholdt muttered something about how he ‘wasn’t so much a coward as to leave his love behind’. Reiner squeezed his hand from under the table, Eren could see. </p><p>“I robbed a store, the Ackermans paid my bail, and they took me here.” Ymir shrugged. “8 months strong.” </p><p>Eren scratched his neck, lost in thought. “Marlowe said if he works hard enough, he’ll get out of here. What’s up with that?”</p><p>Annie, surprisingly, was the one to speak up. “He’s swimming against the current. In this shithole of negativity and death, he needs something to keep himself going. He’s only been here for a few months, and yet he’s already in love with Hitch.” Annie scowled at the name. “Speaking of Hitch, where the hell is she? She’s supposed to help me fold up the fucking table.” </p><p>“I’m here, Leonhardt, don’t worry,” A mousy voice teased. Eren pivoted in his seat to meet who he could only assume to be Hitch. Surprisingly, the short and slim girl was dragging not only Jean, but also Marco behind her, both of their eyes wide with embarrassment. “I had to stop these two idiots from taking the train to pound town in the supply closet.” Dropping each boy with an ‘oomph’ noise, Hitch sat herself next to Eren. He jumped at bit at her flirtatious gaze.</p><p>“So, handsome, I assume you’re the boy’s newest roommate.” She purred, batting her eyelashes innocently. “What’s your name?” </p><p>Blinking stupidly, he sputtered out a quick response. “Z-Zeke,” he stammered. “Nice to meet you, Hitch.” </p><p>Connie’s mouth widened into a massive shit eating grin. “Ooooh, Zeke’s got a crush!” He laughed, elbowing Sasha in the ribs to get her attention. “Looks like they’re getting along...<em>without a hitch!</em> </p><p>While he and Sasha cackled at their dumb joke, Hitch winked to Eren. “Maybe you and I should talk sometime,” she hinted. Ymir snorted as she accused Hitch of being ‘hornier than a satyr’, to which Hitch replied, ‘what the fuck is a satyr.’ </p><p>Despite their grim circumstances, it seemed like these people had found joy where they could. Perhaps Eren should learn to do the same.</p><p>—==—</p><p>It’d been a few hours since breakfast, and Eren was hard at work repainting the southern corridor. He’d received no messages from Royal, and no requests for a call-in from HQ, either. Instead, Eren was stuck dragging the thick brush up and down, a pristine white coating the walls. His assigned work partner, some douche named Boris, hadn’t even bothered to grab a paintbrush. He smoked a cigarette nonchalantly while Eren did all the work.</p><p>“God, you’re so much more boring than Hitch or Marlowe,” Boris teased. “Those two usually either try to hit me, or go off on a rant about how much I suck.” Boris kicked the ladder, causing Eren’s heart to race. He was only ten feet or so up, but he wasn’t too keen on falling all the same. “Pfft, you’re afraid from that height? You won’t last a week here.”</p><p>Eren used every last piece of self discipline he ever had to simply ignore Boris in favor of painting. He whistled a melody from one of his favorite songs, <em>Home</em>. He thought the song’s message of home being with your love was soothing; A reassurance to that he’d see Armin again soon. The song was comforting and relaxing, as if it was a cure for amnesiacs, suffering and lost. Boris hmphed, and kicked at the ladder again. Eren’s brush flew out of his hand, plopping against the immaculate wooden floor with a ‘smoosh’ noise. Eren’s eyes widened in terror.</p><p>
  <em>He remembered Reiner’s painting advice earlier that day: “No matter what you fucking do, do NOT make a fucking mess. One of the Ackermans, Levi, short fella? He’ll rip your throat out. Literally. We’ve been witness.”</em>
</p><p>Boris cackled as he pointed to the brush. “Oh, dude, you’re seriously fucked! Once Levi comes by that, he’s gonna—“</p><p>“—He’s going to ask what Feulner is doing, harassing his work partner and forcing an accident.” Eren’s heart stopped. That voice.</p><p>That was the voice of the man on the tape. The one torturing Armin. </p><p>He felt sick to his stomach, and simply faced the wall with a desperate fear in his eyes. </p><p>“S-sir,” Eren hadn’t liked Boris, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor boy. He was an asshole, but he didn’t deserve...this. “I-I’ll clean it up, I’ll wake up early every morning to clean, and stay up late every night, too! I’ll—“</p><p>“You’ll come with me in my office, right now, Feulner.” The voice was like a knife, scraping it’s way across Eren’s chest.  He couldn’t see Boris, but Eren was certain the poor boy was terrified. Hell, Eren was terrified. He completely forgot his mission. The terrifying presence spoke to Eren next. “You’ll see me in my office after normal work hours. I’ll send Furlan to pick you up.”</p><p>He didn’t think to follow and listen in to Levi’s conversation. All he could do was freeze in horror as the footsteps grew fainter.</p><p>After a few minutes had passed, Eren could finally breathe again. He noticed that the brush and it’s paint stain had already been cleaned, and that beneath the ladder was none other than Mina Carolina, bless her soul. </p><p>“Oh, God, Zeke, are you okay?” She looked up to him as he stepped down from the ladder. He shook his head wearily. “Just, just try to stay calm. I got the stain cleaned up for you. You’re going to be okay,” she reassured.</p><p>“He’s going to kill me.” Eren’s voice was hoarse. “He told me to come to his office after work hours. Said he’s sending someone to pick me up.”</p><p>Mina lifted his chin so she could make eye contact with Eren. “I heard. And you’re going to be fine,” she soothed. “I know you probably think I’m spewing bullshit to make you feel better, but I’m not. I overheard. He said Furlan was going to collect you, not Isabel.” She smiled faintly. “Whatever he wants you for, it isn’t to kill you. Furlan is the reasonable half of Levi’s two hands.” </p><p>Eren wasn’t completely convinced, but he thanked Mina anyways. She stood by him for the next few hours, helping him finish the corridor. Boris never came back, and Eren had a feeling he knew why.</p><p>—==—</p><p>After an absurdly long few hours preparing the dinner for that night alongside Sasha (who kept eating all the ingredients), and Marlowe (who kept barking orders to everyone like a drill sergeant), Eren was redressing himself after a thorough shower to remove any meatloaf stains from his uniform. The inspection was his next, and last, task of the day. He was dreading what came after. He had to meet an Ackerman for the inspection, and then a second Ackerman who would likely kill him regardless of the inspection.</p><p>Marco had been assigned to the west wing inspection alongside Eren and Bertholdt, and apparently Ymir would meet them there. Eren felt the icy stare of Jean on the back of his neck as Marco chattered away to Bertholdt about his day.</p><p>Once they were out in the hallway, Eren noticed Marco kept glancing over to him. There was a fierce animosity present with his demeanor, and a complete and utter contrast to Marco’s witticisms he’d been sharing with Bertholdt. After they were about halfway there, Marco tapped Bert on the shoulder, an impressive feat, considering the giant’s height. “Hey, Bertl, don’t wait up, alright? I need to go over some things with Zeke.”</p><p>Bertholdt, ever the shy and meek one, murmured in agreement quieter than a pin dropping as he began to speed walk down the hall. Eren felt Marco’s firm grip against the back of his vest, jerking him to a halt. Startled, he looked over to the freckled man. And oh boy, he looked pissed.</p><p>Somehow, Eren, without trying, had pissed off easily the nicest person in the entire estate. Gulping, Eren smiled up to his taller companion. Marco did not return the smile. “What’s up, Marco?” He chuckled nervously.</p><p>Marco’s normally docile chocolate eyes were narrowed, and his brow furrowed. He wore a scowl as he practically <em>snarled</em> to Eren. “ I don’t know you are,” he seethed, “Or what you did to Jean, but he’s terrified of you.” Marco’s brow rose in sympathy for his lover, before narrowing into fury once he focused on Eren again. “Ever since he saw you in passing at the ceremony last night, something was off. I didn’t pry, or notice who exactly triggered it, but Jean was the most scared I’ve ever seen him.” </p><p>Eren was sweating profusely, a deep burning shake piercing his heart. “I, Marco, listen,”</p><p>“NO, YOU LISTEN.” Marco didn’t shout, even at his angriest, he wasn’t capable; but his voice still cut through Eren’s chest with even more force than Levi’s. “He pulled me into that closet this morning and <em>sobbed.</em> He wasn’t even that scared when we got fucking trapped here.” Marco’s voice sounded so unnatural when he swore, but with his Zeke facade, Eren couldn’t rightly judge that. “You’ve obviously met Jean before, and I don’t know what you did to him, but if you so much as touch him...” Marco lifted Eren against the wall, his hands against his throat. He was completely out of his element; The normally sweet and understanding Marco now snarling like a feral wolf. “I’ll kill you.” </p><p>Marco practically threw Eren against the ground, the latter gasping for breath as the former walked off to catch up with Bertholdt. Eren sat in stunned silence for a few moments. </p><p>Jean Kirschstein knew who he was, and roughly, why he was here. His...boyfriend? Now had threatened to kill him if he went near Jean, and Jean had begged Eren to leave Marco alone. </p><p>He was terrified of Eren. Eren had ruined his life completely, and he still had a slight limp three years after the events of Pieck’s party.</p><p>Even as his legs unconsciously took him to his place in line at the inspection, Eren couldn’t help but let his shame surround him in his mind. He felt even worse than he had when he learned Armin was compromised. He snapped back to reality when a vivid red scarf came into his vision. </p><p>“Excuse me.” The voice belonged to a beautiful young woman, her skin pale like the moonlight, and her lips cherry red. She had beautiful black hair that shone under the skylight of the hallway, and she was eyeing Eren incredulously. “I need you to tell me your name, please.”</p><p>Snapping to attention, Eren shot into action. “Ma’am, m-my name is Zeke.” Eren swore he heard Marco utter ‘bullshit’ from somewhere behind him. “I’m new, assigned to Room 104.” He bowed in respect, and the woman rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Please don’t do that,” she groaned. “I’m sick and tired of doing this shit anyways. You’re people, adults, and because of my last name, if I ever leave this place, I’ll be shot. I’m in the same boat as all of you,” She motioned to the servants. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Mikasa.” She stared at Eren directly, her deep black pupils reading him like an open book. </p><p>“Mikasa Ackerman.” She adjusted her scarf, and shifted her gaze back over to the crowd. Eren’s jaw dropped in shock. She was the inspector? “I honestly don’t even know what I’m supposed to inspect,” she answered honestly. “None of you look too gross, and none of you have contraband, so I guess we’re done. You all can go.” As everyone began to confusedly shuffle back towards their dorms, Eren felt a gentle tug on his arm. “Not you. Please stay.” Her voice was questioning, he didn’t have to agree if he didn’t want to. Eren quickly turned around and walked to the corridor’s corner with Mikasa.</p><p>Mikasa rested her head against the freshly painted wall, sighing as she dug around in her purse. Eren reluctantly leaned against the wall, eyeing Mikasa with worry. He was dumbfounded when the strange girl lifted a small packet out of her purse, and took out two strands. Chewing gum. Popping one into her mouth, she nonchalantly held the other out to Eren.</p><p>“Cherry flavored,” She explained. “You want it?”</p><p>Eren accepted the gun with pure confusion, and Mikasa could tell. She turned to face him, popping the gum into a small bubble as Eren slowly chewed his own piece.</p><p>“You’re probably confused as shit, and have a lot of questions. Lucky for you, I’m gonna answer a few of them.” She brushed her hair away from her eyes, her black locks contrasting the white wall beautifully. “I know that you’re a Survey Corps agent, and that there’s more than one of you here.” Eren’s eyes widened with fear, and she shook her head. “No, I’m not going to kill you. Actually, I’m helping you.” She offered her hand to Eren, a proper handshake.</p><p>“I’m Eren,” he said honestly, and it felt so freeing to say his own name again. “Eren Yeager, looking for my best friend.” Mikasa’s eyes widened. </p><p>“You mean the girl, Royal, or whatever? Even I don’t know who she is. Your people contacted me via a letter sent by her, but I’ve never met her.” Eren shook his head. </p><p>“A shaggy blonde boy who came here last week,” he clarified. “Armin didn’t dye his hair or change his name because we’d triple checked the anonymity of his real identity, and he checked out.” Eren sighed. “He was compromised last week. He’s probably dead.” </p><p>Mikasa’s face softened in sympathy. “I know what it’s like for this place to take the people you love.” She grasped his shoulder, a warm smile forming on her face. “I’ll look into your friend for you, but we can’t be seen talking here any longer. Meet me back here in a week? I’ll pull strings with the powers that be so your schedule aligns.”</p><p>Nodding, Eren smiled as Mikasa walked away, her red scarf swaying back and forth as she elegantly disappeared around the corner. </p><p>With every up, however, there is a down. </p><p>He now had to face the person who was responsible for the torture of Armin Arlert, Ilse Langnar, and countless other innocent people.</p><p>He was about to face Levi Ackerman.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry that Eren is such a massive dickhead in this chapter, but he isn’t meant to be a perfect hero figure in this story. Also, I love Jean and I hate the way Eren treats him in the canon. Sorry to vent my frustrations here, but Jean is better than Eren, sorry. </p><p>Next time, Eren meets Levi and nearly shits his pants, Marlowe gets a head of himself, and we see some HQ shenanigans.</p><p>No, Boris is not dead.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Your Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Alabama, Arkansas,”</p><p>“I do love my ma and pa,” </p><p>Not the way that I do love you.”</p><p>— Jade, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, ‘Home’</p><p>Home is whenever I’m with you.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, I  couldn’t help but name this chapter after one of my all time favorite songs. Link for those who don’t know of it: https://youtu.be/DHEOF_rcND8</p><p>**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS CANONICAL DEATH SPOILERS AS WELL AS CANONICAL CHARACTER REVELATIONS. THERE IS ALSO REFERENCES TO SEXUAL ASSAULT. DISCRETION ADVISED.**</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fiddling with her ponytail, the woman hummed a tune to herself as the coffee machine beeped. Pouring herself and her (work)! partner a cup o’ Joe, she relaxed onto the loveseat of their break room. It was a fairly normal day in the upper rankings break room, with the grump scowling at his crossword, her (WORK) partner yelling at her to be careful during the day’s experiments, and even her boss making an appearance to sniff at the odd smells emanating from the room. </p><p>Yawning, she stretched her legs across the coffee table, earning an eye roll from the grump and a laugh from another senior agent, Schultz. She’d known them all for years, and they were a family. She’d lay down her life for any of the people in this room in a heartbeat; Especially the one who kept her safe throughout her days of heavy experimentation with different gadgets. She was always getting ahead of herself in her quest for knowledge, and he was always keeping her head attached, sometimes quite literally. </p><p>Hange chuckled as Moblit gathered his coffee and made his exit, Schultz whistling after him. She didn’t have to see the man to know he was blushing from the attention. Schultz turned to Hange with a wide grin after he was certain Moblit was far enough away. “Hange, you realize he has an enormous crush on you, right?” He questioned.</p><p>Hange brushed him aside, scoffing. “I’m certain the only crush Moblit has is the crushing of my dreams when he prevents me from my experiments.” She grumbled, but it wasn’t sincere, and they both knew it. From across the room, the man staring at the crossword made eye contact with Hange. Oluo, despite being a relatively young man, had aged considerably in the last few years. He was only in his early thirties, but you could easily mistake him for a fifty year old man. It wasn’t like Hange blames the poor man. He’d been through a lot.</p><p>Oluo gave Hange a weak smile. “If you think there’s a chance at happiness there, you should pursue it while you can.” Pondering that thought, Hange stood herself up. She tiptoed her way over to Oluo, testing her fingers gently against his shoulders. “W-what, Hange...?” He stammered, but Hange cut him off.</p><p>“Oluo, do you want to hear about my latest experimentation trials?” She pondered.</p><p>“The one with the steam cannon, or the one bomb that makes the enemy super horny and uncomfortable?” He grumbled in response.</p><p>Schultz snickered at the mention of the aptly names ‘love bomb’, as he’d been the first one to test it in the field. The mobster he’d been in a shootout with got a massive boner, and fled to the bathroom in panic. Handcuffs awaited him. Hange claimed she had been trying to make a sleeping bomb instead, but Günther didn’t really believe her. </p><p>Blushing slightly at the mention of her accidental creation, she smiled to Oluo. “Actually, neither of those,” she corrected. “This one’s off the agency; it’s one of Moblit and I’s personal projects.” Schultz leaned in over Hange’s shoulder, anxious to listen in. Pouting, Hange shoved him back towards the couch and coffee table. Snickering at the sight, Nanaba came in to grab a coffee. </p><p>“Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt. Hange, after you’re done in here, I’ve got a full report of Eren’s insertion. No rush, though.” Hange nodded in excitement as she turned back towards her grumpy agent pal.</p><p>Oluo raised an eyebrow, which Hange took to mean an interest in what she had to say.</p><p>“I’ve been exploring the possibility of alternate universes. You know, like a multiverse theorem.” Oluo scoffed, and looks back to the crossword, but Hange saw the corners of his pupils peering up at her. She smiled. “The theory that there’s an infinite amount of possible dimensions, and each is unique in their own, special way. Obviously, I can’t prove this existence, but I’m looking into ways of warping time and space — purely as a hobby, of course, but it’s still an exciting thought nonetheless!”</p><p>Oluo blinked at his superior confusedly. “You’re telling me this why?” Hange grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up off the ground. She stared him dead in the eyes as he grasped at his collar.</p><p>“Because!” Hange began to laugh. “In each world, the same people exist, but in different situations. And those people, regardless of what timeline or time space they fall into, are fated to be intertwined across dimensions.”</p><p>
  <em>The exuberant scientist leaned her ear forward to the snapping jaws of the restrained giant. It was her fifth attempt to establish communications that hour, but she’d be damned if she didn’t get the big lugs to open their oversized hearts, minds, and souls to her. She spoke with a bubbly and reassuring tone. “Hi there!” The subject’s breathing grew heavy. She continued. “Lovely weather, dont’cha think?” It stared blankly at her, it’s limbs nailed into the dirt. “Are you hungry—?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Suddenly, it’s jaws snapped forward, nearly taking her head off. She leapt back with a shout, before laughing to herself. “Whew! That was close!” She Heard- a heavy sigh from behind her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Her executive officer gasped. He was always forcing the Section Commander out of harm’s way, since she had such a knack for putting herself there in the first place. Truth be told, he might drink heavily at the end of each night, but he cared for her in a deep and emotional way. She wasn’t just her superior. They’d been with one another in the Scouts since day one, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. It would take a colossal threat to separate the Fourth Squad’s second-in-command with his superior.</em>
</p><p>“You think people are fated to be together?” Günther pondered.</p><p>
  <em>Whizzing by the enormous trees with the wind in their hair, the squad laughed about their escapades and memories. “I have to admit, Petra, Oluo,” the blonde teased. “For two rookies who pissed themselves on their first time out, you’ve come a long way.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The strawberry blonde shrieked in horror. “I THOUGHT WE AGREED NEVER TO SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The grump nodded in his discontent, sputtering out his own rebuttal whilst trying not to bite off his tongue.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The youngest member with bright teal eyes gazed in confusion. “So did it just like, spray over everyone?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The last snapped the squad to attention. “Nobody cares about who pissed whose pants!” He shouted, the leaves whizzing by their gear. “...For the record, my shorts have always been dry.”</em>
</p><p>Hange nodded. “Through good times and bad, and whether they hated or loved one another, their destinies are intertwined. Some are bound to be tragic...”</p><p>
  <em>The freckled boy grunted in pain as his arms were forced behind his back, the wind knocked out of him from landing on the rooftop shingles. He strained his head back to see his assailant, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t back the tears.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“REINER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” He cried as his arms bent behind his body, the blonde above him grunting as he struggled. His tall companion stared in abject terror. He realized the conversation he’d just heard...it was real. His heart palpitated vividly for a few moments, before all but stopping altogether.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Please...” he sobbed. “Say it’s a joke...” He felt his face being shoved into the shingles roughly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I wish I could, Marco.” The blonde huffed insincerely. He snorted. “Problem is, you’re too damn smart to fall for that.” The whizzing of gas was heard from above. The boy could try to call for help.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“SOMEBODY, HEL—MMMPH..” His cries were muffled by his blonde assailant’s hands. As he saw a familiar figure land on her feet just in front of him, his heart exploded in relief. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, Annie,” He looked up to her in desperation. “You’ve gotta help me! Reiner’s acting crazy; Please, get him off me!” The girl didn’t move. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What’s going on here?” She demanded, her breathing uneven. His blood froze in fear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He heard me and Bertholdt talking. If we let him live, he’ll expose us.” The boy’s sobs were heavy and deep, laced with betrayal and shock. The girl began to tearfully weep. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You shitheads. What the hell?” Before anyone else could speak, the tallest was screaming.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“A TITAN! IT’S COMING THIS WAY!” He stared down to his companions and their victim.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The blonde grunted as he shifted the freckled boy into an upright position. His arms were all but broken; Too sore to struggle anymore. The blonde’s stare pierced the sobbing girl’s eyes with terrifying purpose. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Annie. Disassemble Marco’s gear.” His words were hollow; An order without emotion. The victim’s heart stopped entirely as his mind raced through his thoughts.<br/>
These people, his friends, were killing him. They’d been the ones to assault all of humanity five years prior, and the ones responsible for the deaths of their classmates in the present. By the time he snapped out of his shock, the girl’s hands were disconnecting his maneuver gear. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“ANNIE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He cried in further desperation. “I THOUGHT WE WERE COMRADES! I DON’T WANT TO DIE HERE!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As the Titan approached, the girl came face to face with her victim. She could barely choke back her sobs as he flailed around in the blonde’s arms. “DON’T KILL ME!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Don’t kill me.’ He’d asked of her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>To no avail. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She destroyed his gear, tossing the gas tanks into the building, flying off with the blades and wiring. The boy wept on the fractured rooftop shingles as his former friends left him for dead. As the familiar stomping that shook the ground grew nearer, he reached a hand out, one final plea for mercy.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why...are you in such a hurry to kill me?....” He cried. “I don’t get it...we—we can talk this through!” He felt a tight grip against his chest cavity, knocking the wind out of him as he was raised into the air. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kicking and screaming as the trio watched from afar, the boy struggled against his giant captor. He was no match for the brute strength and size of the aberration; As he sobbed in his final moments of living, he was crushed between the monster’s teeth. His body spasmed from muscle activation as the entire side of his figure was torn off, swallowed by the beast.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The blonde who had just condemned the poor boy to his death now watched in complete horror as his friend was devoured. He had no idea what had just happened. He was just fighting alongside his comrade a moment ago. So why...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why is...how is...Marco....being eaten...?” He stammered. His two companions widened their eyes at his sudden amnesia. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He had ordered this. He didn’t deserve the luxury of forgetting. </em>
</p><p>“...But I’m sure there’s just as many positive realities!” Hange beamed down to Oluo, a glint in her glasses. </p><p>
  <em></em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hot steam rose into the air as the green cloaks moved like nightingales across the early morning sky. Slashing out with pure precision, they made quick work of their enormous targets, the sound of grapples hooking rhythmically pounding each Scout’s eardrums.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Amidst the chaos, a lone and beautiful blonde woman desperately crawled through the castle rubble, desperate to reach her beloved. As she rounded the final corner, the unsteady rocks shaking beneath her, she leapt out to her love.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The tall freckled woman was laying still against the lap of one of her comrades, markings adorning her face from where she had emerged from the nape. Her leg and arm were partially torn away, and steam rose from her wounds and into the air. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Desperately clutching her hand, the young blonde whispered the name of her love into the quiet wind, silent since the fall of the green cloaks from the sky. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ymir...”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>At the sound of the beautiful blonde speaking her name, the wounded woman’s eyes fluttered open. Her usually hostile gaze was soft and gentle; The blonde held back tears as she fulfilled her promise.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“My real name is Historia. Historia Reiss.”</em>
</p><p>Considering this for a moment, Oluo looked up to Hange, hope adorning his aura. “Do you think that somewhere, out there, she and I are together?...” Hange gave a sincere and thoughtful smile to her old friend.</p><p>
  <em>”Oluo, you should be more careful during training exercises.” The strawberry blonde scolded as her fellow cadet landed gracefully next to her, his blades glistening in the sunlight escaping the trees. “You’re already miles ahead of most of the class. There’s no call to be so reckless. In a real Titan fight, you’d have been swallowed!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The man blushed at her scolding, touched that she cared so much. But he couldn’t show that. Feigning a scoff towards the young woman of his dreams, he smiled cockily. “I’m not some greenhorn, Petra,” He loosely spoke as they traveled back towards the barracks on foot. “Like you said, I’m essentially at the top of our class in Titan kill points. I’m more than ready to actually ta—“</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The man bit into his tongue as he tripped against a stone, blood splattering across his teeth. Wincing in pain, the woman rushed to his side, pure concern adorning her honey gaze. “I told you to be careful!” She scolded, but without any real animosity.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Staring up into the strawberry blonde’s eyes, the man felt at peace. Despite the fact he’d nearly bitten his tongue off, he was never happier than he was in this moment. As the girl gathered stream water to wash out his mouth, he chuckled to himself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was home. Home is whenever he’s with her.</em>
</p><p>—==—</p><p> </p><p>The meeting to discuss Eren’s findings and actions after his first few days of insertion was...hectic, if you were being generous. If you were being realistic, it was a clusterfuck of a mess. Hange was hysterical that Erwin hadn’t filled Eren or Armin in on the truth, because it may have saved Armin’s cover and life if he had. Mike defended his lover, vehemently denying that the reasons they kept it redacted were selfish. Moblit was physically restraining Hange as she practically dove over the conference table, kicking and wailing.</p><p>“Hange, there’s no reason for you to scream!” Moblit struggled to hold his superior back, grunting. </p><p>“I CAN’T DO THIS AND NOT SCREAM, DAMN YOU!” Hange lunges for Erwin’s throat, crying her goddamn eyes out. “YOU NEVER TOLD THEM? WHAT THE FUCK, ERWIN?”</p><p>The commander of the Survey Corps took a long gaze at his comrades before him in the meeting room. Senior Agents Schultz and Bozad sat to his direct left, wherea Gelgar and Nanaba day to his direct right. Hange was next to her partner, Moblit, at the far end of the table, reaching out and grasping at the air. His love, Mike, was unfortunately stuck at the far end of the table, as per agency law. At least they could maintain eye contact. A few other agents were scattered throughout the table, chattering amongst themselves. Erwin needed order to continue their course of action. </p><p>“Agent Zoë, that is enough.” The commander’s deep voice reverberated throughout the room, effectively silencing everyone. Even Hange herself halted her tears, sliding her goggles back on and regaining her composure. “Would you prefer I have rekindled those memories when they are vastly unimportant to the current mission?” Hange blinked, sputtering. “Would you prefer I subject us all to that again, or terrify Eren beyond belief? No, we can’t share such classified information with our newest agents.”</p><p>The conference room fell eerily silent. They’d all known exactly what Eren had told them. Eren had already witnessed one brutal murder, had his identity revealed by two people (one of which, to be fair, was a confidant). The fact the Marleyan government was trading with the Ackermans caught them severely off guard, and the elephant in the room Hange had just shouted.</p><p>Eren had personally met with Levi Ackerman. And they all knew what that entailed. But Erwin wasn’t convinced. Levi was a ruthless man, a cunning man, one who was always a step ahead of the opponent in any sort of strategical game. The one person who’d been able to balance his tendencies was, in fact, Erwin. He knew it was out of character for Levi to immediately warmly embrace someone like that; And based on what intel Royal had been able to gather, if one servant messes up on your shift together, you go down together. </p><p>Agent Royal was honestly a gift from God to the Survey Corps. In the form of encrypted letters, she’d sent pleas to the Survey Corps about where their agents could acquire supplies on the estate, guard schedules (which were always 100% accurate), and even combative assistance was offered. She wasn’t officially trained, but after working with her via messaging for a whole year, Hange declared her to be trustworthy. She’d sent the brass of the Survey Corps her real identity and face, alongside her alias. The callsign, as was tradition in the Corps, was decided by the current Vice Chief, and Mike went with something regal; Something fit for a goddess. Royal. Erwin had to admit, it was one of his more creative nicknames. It was certainly better than ‘Fruity’, ‘Pompadour’, ‘Fashionista’, ‘Whiskey’, ‘Goggles’....everyone besides Hange constantly begged for a new callsign. </p><p>Based on their last message from Royal a month ago, they’d discovered that a mole was amongst the Titan ranks. She wasn’t sure how it was leaked, but the Corps figured after a year of so of deceiving the Ackermans, they’d been lucky to have made it THAT far without issues. Thankfully, they didn’t know her identity. Yet. </p><p>Which brought Erwin back to Eren. If Levi was trying to seduce Eren into a false sense of comfort, it was for one of two reasons. Or perhaps, in a terrible scenario, both.</p><p>Levi either has taken a liking to Eren in the worst possible way, or, equally as frightening, and just as likely, Levi already knew Eren was a plant. It made sense. Armin was compromised easily, and Ilse before that, as well. From what they’d been able to gather from Royal, nobody else in the Titans was alerted to the presence of Survey Corps agents besides the possible infiltration of their own ranks. Levi certainly had a habit of...playing, with his victims. Erwin knew that all too well, and it was likely the only reason Armin was kept alive. Erwin wasn’t careful enough. Their blood was on his hands, and his hands alone. The revelation of how Levi knew these things had to be kept in the dark from his agents, just for now.</p><p>The Survey Corps had a mole of their own, in this very room. And Erwin was certain they knew everything. </p><p>“After careful consideration, I have decided to declassify the information of Callsign: Humanity’s Strongest. It’ll be Head of Research, Hange Zoe’s Job to debrief Agent Yeager next time he calls in. Meeting adjourned.”</p><p>Erwin ended the meeting quickly, as he didn’t have a moment to waste. He had to figure out the identity of his traitor, before it was too late. </p><p>—==—</p><p>Eren was incredibly confused as to what had just happened. He’d just gotten off his call with Moblit to update their situation, and announce that he’d just met personally with Levi Ackerman. He’d expected to be shot, stabbed, or decapitated. Instead, Boris (his asshole of a painting partner) poured the both of them a lovely black tea with honey. The look in Boris’s cold, dead eyes implied that something horrible did indeed happen to the boy, but that was neither here nor there. Eren had a relaxing conversation in which Levi thanked him for being a loyal servant to the Ackermans.</p><p>Based on the updated schedule that Moblit relayed to him, meeting Royal in person was left to her own discretion, and not his. He’d still be receiving updates and given intel via their assigned mailing system, but person to person contact was out of Eren’s hands. Moblit mentioned Mikasa by name, and that she was indeed an ally to the Survey Corps. Eren knew there had to be more to the story than that, as she was clearly a vehement rebel against the Titan’s ideals and practices, but decided not to pry. </p><p>Moblit became eerily silent when he began to speak about Levi, and how the man had praised him for his loyalty. When Moblit did speak, he stammered over his words, and the panic was evident in his speaking mannerisms. Hange had to take over for a few minutes, explaining that Moblit was having a mild allergic reaction. Eren knew that was complete bullshit, but he couldn’t fathom what exactly had set Moblit off. He wished for Armin’s intelligence and expertise now more than ever, as Eren himself was relatively...’academically challenged.’ The fact he’d graduated in fifth place in high school was a miracle that belonged solely to the Jesus figure known as Armin Arlert. Eren only hoped that he wasn’t nailed to a cross. Moblit finally returned after a good ten minutes of Hange’s ramblings, and stepped right back into business.</p><p>When he’d told Moblit of Jean’s recognition of his identity, the man was flabbergasted. Eren expected him to be shocked, but there was less surprise in his voice, and more unbridled fear. Eren assured him that Jean promised not to reveal his identity and explained that he’d be killed too, but even Eren knew that excuse was shaky, at best. By now, Marco could also be aware of his identity. Hell, the entire dorm could be watching him like a hawk. Moblit prematurely ended their call after that. Eren barely had the opportunity to explain Thomas’s demise and the Marleyan dealings.</p><p>The next week for Eren was entirely uneventful. He wasn’t supposed to call in for a report until he further developed any information on either the whereabouts of Armin or any greater Titan activity. So far, he’d been unable to learn anything very valuable. Eren had a gut feeling Jean knowing who he was wasn’t just a guess by the arrogant boy, because that wouldn’t make any sense. Jean didn’t seem to be afraid of Eren, either, as he’d originally assumed, because he would often add sarcastic comments and insults into Eren’s conversations with the other men in the dorm. Throughout the week, Eren tried to coax Jean into meeting with him, to no avail.</p><p>On Monday, Jean said he was being sent to Levi Ackerman’s personal quarters to clean. He apparently did this every Monday, as Marco was sure to kiss him and remind him to ‘take off your shoes, or he’ll skewer you.’ Not the most romantic notion ever, Eren thought, but it garnered a snicker out of Jean. Other than that, Eren saw Boris again at breakfast. The boy was with Marlowe, surprisingly, and was crying into his shoulder. Eren felt sick to his stomach. Levi definitely did something to that poor boy, and Eren felt whatever it was, Boris didn’t deserve it. Even if he was a complete asshole.</p><p>On Tuesday, Eren’s schedule happened to almost <em>exactly</em> align with Jean’s. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some answers out of the grump, but he didn’t even get the chance to speak to Jean the entire day. That was because of Marco, who also happened to be in every scheduled job Eren and Jean shared. Whenever he’d even glance towards Jean, the normally friendly and gentle deep brown eyes Marco possessed turned into a violent grizzly bear, threatening to tear him apart if he stood any closer. So Eren had to put up Marco and Jean giggling and kissing the whole goddamn day, alongside an additional threat from Marco when Jean went to the bathroom. Eren figured Marco was entirely serious, so he didn’t stare at Jean for the rest of the day after that.</p><p>Having his balls staples to the wall didn’t sound very appealing, after all.</p><p>On Wednesday, the entire dorm was awoken to the ceremonious sound of Reiner grunting in the bathroom, whilst a very panicked Bertholdt attempted to calm him down. At first, Marlowe was concerned that Reiner was in trouble, so he heroically burst through the bathroom door to heroically save him. Unfortunately for Marlowe, Reiner was just receiving a blowjob and, true to Jean’s word, he sounded like a foghorn. Bertholdt was the color of a tomato the whole day, and Connie cackled until dinner time. He stopped when Isabel walked by and threatened to wring his scrawny neck. </p><p>Finally, Thursday came around. Eren was about ready to drop, and it took him off guard when Jean approached him first. As they were brushing their teeth and mocking Marlowe for his ‘cockblocking’ the other morning, Jean tapped Eren on the shoulder. </p><p>“Er-Zeke, I think we need to talk.” Jean glanced back over his shoulder to Marco, and Eren followed his eyes. Marco was gazing worriedly at his lover before he quickly shot a look of pure rage over to Eren. Remembering the promise that Marco would rip his balls off if he hurt Jean, he remained silent, and simply nodded.</p><p>—==—</p><p>During breakfast, Marco covered for Jean and Eren as they snuck off into the very same supply closet Jean admitted to recognizing him in the week prior. Before Eren could say anything, Jean began to speak.</p><p>“Don’t fucking say anything, alright? Not ‘til I’m done.”</p><p>Eren disobeyed Jean, ready to sincerely apologize. “Jean, I’m truly sorry for the way that I treated you, both last week and in school, dude. There’s no excuse for how major of an asshole, I’ve been, and after this, I promise I’ll never bother you or Marco again, so—</p><p>“—Levi already knows who you are.”</p><p>Eren’s heart sank to the bottom of the ocean.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry that this chapter is shorter. I posted it early by accident and had to scramble through a few things. The next chapter will definitely be longer!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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